[Stonkey]

Backup image? Or a restore point?

Well, before reading your post I decided to see if Windows would redeem itself and I let it install all the updates that it had ready for me. Now, about 75% of the time when I boot up, I get a disk read error.

This is quite frustrating.

I guess I'll uninstall all the updates and see what happens.

[crjdriver]

As outlined in post #12, backup image.
Are you installing critical updates or are you installing all updates?

[Stonkey]

Well, it started happening after an automatic update. I assume that those are critical ones. I hadn't bothered to look though. I was just letting it do its thing.

I think it's a moot point now though. I'm really getting confused here, but removing the updates didn't fix the problem. And I was still getting disk read errors. So I did a fresh install, and the system instability was there right out of the gate along with the disk read errors. I didn't do anything differently this time, so I'm going to RMA the HD now and figure that the brief period of freeze-free-ness was a fluke. Is it possible that I got a bad mobo (which would make it 2 straight)?

[crjdriver]

Anything mech can break however getting 2 failed boards is pretty unlikely. Try it with a different hard drive and see how it works.

FWIW on my own systems, I disable automatic updates. I just check updates manually then decide which ones I am going to install. If it is a system I build for someone else, then I leave auto updates enabled.

[Stonkey]

Well, the first mobo was on open box one. I had a friend who got one like that from Newegg, and he said that the box was technically open (aka, the plastic around it had a hole in it), but nothing had been disturbed. Mine was nothing like that though. They sent it to me, just a board in a box with no padding at all (and none of the cables I needed). It would BSOD when I tried to boot the Windows disk, so I sent it right back. So the second one is actually a completely different model and whatnot.

I'll have to see if I can rustle up another HD to test with. I don't want to mess with that one that has all my old files and stuff on it (even though Windows gives you the option to install a new OS while "saving" your files).

I plan to disable them now. I had always heard horror stories. But except one time where a Windows update actually completely killed the wireless card in a Compaq laptop for my sister (couldn't get it back even by removing the update), I always thought people exaggerated the problems of Windows updates. I guess it's all true though.

[Stonkey]

Ok. I got my new HD in the mail today. I install Windows 7, and it runs through the initial install part. It restarts, and then instead of picking up where it's supposed to, it tries to start the installation over again. If I remove the disk, I just get the disk read error again.
I'm so confused. I have no discernible problems running live CD's. But, of course, I can't seem to figure out how to test the drive with Parted Magic (I can't fiture out how to browse, and I've never been good with the terminal). So the live disk test isn't really going to show HD problems. (Except the disk health tool tells me that it's alright.)
Where should I go from here?

EDIT:
Ok. Strike that. I went and installed Ubuntu. Once again, the install went off without a hitch. There was no indication of any problems with the install. But when it restarted, and I got sort of disk error again (it might have said "no disk" or something like that), and I was given the option of using a grubb recovery command like (or something like that). Does that help with the diagnosis at all?

Second edit:
Ok. So I reversed one of the recommendations I was given earlier and plugged the HD into the jmicron slot. Now it's working fine. I haven't tried installing and Microsoft updates, but the freezing issue isn't present either. Of course, it is sort of unacceptable to only be able to use half the speed of my hard-drive. Any thoughts on what might be causing problems with the AMD Serial ATA connectors? I tried a couple different ones, and they all had the same issue (it would seem). Is there some sort of setting I should check or something?

[crjdriver]

Have you updated the bios on your mb? I checked the asus site and there are a LOT of bios updates for this board that address system stability.

Other than that, you can just leave the drive connected to the jmicron controller however I usually use the amd controller since it is usually more stable.

[Stonkey]

Yeah. I did flash the BIOS when I first got the machine. Maybe I'll try again though.

And I would definitely prefer to use the ATA because it operates at 6 gb/sec rather than the Jmicron's 3 gb/sec.

Also, I started this thread to address the immediate problem.
http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/1...em-my-ssd.html
I'm hoping that the freezing is related to this same issue, but I'm not sure yet. I'm still holding off on installing any Windows updates.

[crjdriver]

If you are already running the latest bios, then do not flash. If it is not the latest, then go ahead and flash the bios. FWIW the only way I flash an asus board is using ezflash from within the bios. This removes windows from the task of flashing the bios.

Sometimes parts just do not work together and you may have to accept using the jmicron controller.
I know the crucial drives use a marvel controller rather than the sandforce controller. There may be some conflict with the amd sata controller.

[Stonkey]

I'll have to double check (how would I do that?). But I think I have the latest BIOS. I could have accidentally gotten an older one though.

Hopefully not, but I guess we'll see. What confuses me though is why it would have started off being able to boot from it and now not be able to. It sort of deteriorated too, with it booting all the time at first, then not being able to detect the drive sometimes, to not being able to detect the drive at all - with no obvious changes on my part to initiate the change.

Additionally, if I boot with the SATA interface set to IDE or Raid, it recognizes the drive again, but it crashes when it starts to load Windows. Does that shed any light on the situation?

EDIT:
Ok, new info. Instead of letting it install along with the rest of the chipset drivers, I got the SATA interface drivers separately. When I run it, I can initially boot from the HD in the SATA slot. But when Windows loads up, I get a message that my "new driver has installed successfully" for the HD. It asks me to restart, and when I do I am back to getting a disk read error at boot. But when I move the HD to a different slot, I can boot again (but then I get the driver install again, etc.). Anyone got any ideas?